Amplifier Frequency Response

• In the previous discussion of amplifiers, XC of the coupling

and bypass capacitors was assumed to be 0 W at the signal
frequency.
• Also, the internal transistor capacitances were assumed to be
negligible.
• These capacitances, however, do affect the gain and phase
shift of the amplifier over a specified range of input signal
frequencies.

•Frequency Response – change in gain or phase shift over a

specified range of input signal frequencies.
 Effect At Low Frequency

• Since XC = 1/(2pfC), when f is low (e.g. <10 Hz), XC

>>0. The voltage drop across the input and output
coupling capacitors become significant, leading to a
drop in Av. Also, a phase shift is introduced because
the coupling capacitor form a lead (or RC) circuit at
the input and the output.
• At low f, the significant XC across RE (or RS) makes
the emitter (or source) no longer at ground potential,
again reducing Av.
 Effect At High Frequency
Cbc
Rs • At high f, Cbe causes a
Cce drop in signal voltage
due to the voltage
Vs Cbe Rc divider effect with RS.
• At high f, Cbc allows
negative feedback from
Cgd output to cancel the
input partially.
Cds
• Av drops in each case.
Cgs
Cbc ,Cbe and Cce are internal junction capacitances which are usually a few pF.
 General Frequency Response Curve
Av (dB) 3 dB

• Av (dB) = 20 log Av
• Cutoff, critical, or corner
Midrange frequency is the frequency
gain when Av or Ap drops by 3
f dB. This corresponds to
fcl fcu
0.707Av(mid) or 0.5 Ap(mid)
fcl = lower cutoff frequency (half-power point)
fcu = upper cutoff frequency respectively.
Gain is max. at midrange,
often referenced as 0 dB.
Av(dB)=20log(0.707)=-3dB ; Ap(dB)=10log(0.5)=-3dB
Av is down 3dB or 70.7% of mid range value Ap is ½ of its midrange value
 0 dB Reference
• reference gain, no matter what its actual value, used as a
reference in which to compare ther values of gain and is
therefore assigned a 0 dB value. cpmpare other
 The Critical Frequency, fc
• Also referred as “cut-off frequency” or “corner frequency”
• Frequency at which the output power drops to one half
of its midrange value

• Low Frequency - 30 kHz–300 kHz

• High Frequency – 3MHz- 30MHz
Input RC Circuit At Low Frequency

C1 Transistor Rin = R1//R2//Rin(base)

Vin base Critical frequency for this circuit is:
1
fc 
Rin 2 RinC1
 X C1 
VR(in) leads Vin by:   tan 
1

 Rin 
 Note: At fc, XC1 = Rin,  = 45o.
90o
If Rsig of input source is included:
45o
1
0o fc f fc 
2 ( Rsig  Rin )C1
 Output RC Circuit At Low Frequency
+VCC

RC C3 Critical frequency for the output RC circuit:

1
fc 
2 ( RC  R L )C 3
RL The phase shift at the output:
1  X C3 
  tan  
 RC  RL 
Av (dB) The effect of the output RC circuit on Av
0.1fc fc is similar to that of the input RC circuit.
0-3 f
Drop in Av for each RC
circuit is 20 dB/decade
-20 or 6 dB/octave
dB/decade  a ten times change in frequency
dB/octave  doubling or halving of frequency
 Roll-off

dB/decade  a ten times change in frequency

dB/octave  doubling or halving of frequency
Bypass RC Circuit At Low Frequency
Bypass RC Circuit At Low Frequency

+VCC At low frequency, the impedance at the

emitter is Ze = RE//XC2, and Av becomes:
RC Rc
Av 
r 'e  Z e
The critical frequency is:
1
fc 
RE C2 2 [( r 'e  Rth /  ac ) // R E ]C 2
where Rth = R1//R2//Rsig is the equivalent
Thevenin resistance looking from the
XC>>0
base toward the input source.
 Ve Vb I b Rth
Rin( emitter)  re '  re '  re '
Ie  ac I b  ac I b
Rth
 re '
 ac
 Direct-Coupled Amplifiers
• Since direct-coupled amplifiers don’t have coupling or bypass
capacitors, their frequency response can extend down to dc.
• Because of this, they are commonly used in linear ICs.
• Although their gain is not as high as amplifiers with emitter
bypass, Av stays constant at lower frequencies.
 Example
+VCC

C1=10µF R1=40kΩ βac=100

R1 RC C2=20µF R2=10k Ω VCC=20V
C3=1µF RC=4k Ω re’=15.76 Ω
C1 Vout
RE=2k Ω Av(mid)=51.21
Vin RL=2.2k Ω
C3 Rs=1k Ω

R2 RE RL
C2
Solution
 Effect At High Frequency
Cbc
• At high f, Cbe causes a
Rs drop in signal voltage
Cce
due to the voltage
divider effect with RS.
Vs Cbe Rc
• At high f, Cbc allows
negative feedback from
output to cancel the
Cgd input partially.
Cds • Av drops in each case.

Cgs

Cbc ,Cbe and Cce are internal junction capacitances which are usually a few pF.
 Miller’s Theorem
• Miller’s theorem can be
used to simplify the
analysis of inverting C
amplifiers at high In Av Out
frequencies.
• C in the diagram can Equivalent
represent either Cbc of a to
BJT or Cgd of a FET. Av
 | A | 1 
C(|Av|+1) C  v 
 | Av | 
Input RC Circuit At High Frequency
Rs Cbc(|Av|+1)

Cin(Miller)
Vs R1//R2
Cwi Cbe

Critical frequency: Phase shift:  Rtot 

fc 
1   tan 1 
X 
2 RtotC tot  C ( tot ) 

where Rtot = Rs//R1//R2//acr’e ; and Ctot = Cbe+Cin(Miller)+Cwi

Where Cwi = input wiring capacitance
 Output RC Circuit At High Frequency
Critical frequency:
1
fc 
2 Rc C out
Rc
Phase shift:
Cce Cwo Cout(Miller)  Rc 
  tan  
1
 XC 
 out 
 | Av | 1) 
Cout ( Miller )  Cbc  
 | Av |  where Rc = RC//RL
If |Av| >> 10, Cout(Miller)  Cbc Cout = Cce+Cout(Miller)+Cwo
Where Cwo = output wiring capacitance
Total Amplifier Frequency Response
Av (dB)

Av(mid)

Bandwidth
= fcu - fcl
0 f
fc1 fc2 fc3 fc4 fc5
fc3 and fc4 are the two dominant critical frequencies where Av is 3 dB below its
midrange value. fc3 is the lower cutoff frequency, fcl, and fc4 is the upper cutoff
frequency, fcu.
0dB reference – the reference gain, no matter what its actual value, is used as a
reference with which to compare other values of gain.
 Gain-Bandwidth Product
Av
Av(mid)
fT is the frequency at which
BW Av = 1 (unity gain) or 0 dB.

fcu fT f
• For a given amplifier, its gain-bandwidth product is a
constant when the roll-off is -20 dB/dec.
• If fcu >> fcl, then BW = fcu - fcl ≈ fcu.
• Unity-gain frequency, fT = Av(mid)BW = Av(mid)fcu .
Roll-off – the decrease in voltage gain with frequency
 Example
C1=12µF R1=1kΩ βac=110
+VCC C2=22µF R2=12k Ω VCC=20V
C3=1.2µF RC=3k Ω
RE=2k Ω
RL=2.2k Ω
R1 RC
Vout Cbe=36pF Cbc=4pF Cce=1pF
C1 Cwi=6pF CWo=8pF
Vin C3

R2 RE RL
C2
 FET Amplifier At Low Frequency
+VDD
Input RC circuit: 1
fc 
RD 2 Rin  Rsig C1
 X C1 
  tan 
1

C1  Rin 
C2 where Rin = RG // Rin(gate)
Vin
RL
RG Output RC circuit:
1
fc 
2 ( R D  R L )C 2
Rin(gate) = |VGS / IGSS|
 X C2 
  tan 
1

 RD  RL 
 1
Bypass RC circuit: f c 
2 Req C bypass

 X Cbypass 
  tan 
1 
 R 
 eq 

where Req = RS // 1/gm

 FET Amplifier At High Frequency
The high frequency analysis of an FET amplifier is very
similar to that of a BJT amplifier. The basic differences
are the specs of Cgd (= Crss), and the determination of Rin.

Input RC circuit: 1  
1  Rin
fc  ;   tan 
Rth  RG R sig 2 RthC tot  XC
 to t

where Ctot = Cgs + Cin(Miller) + Cwi; Cin(Miller) = Cgd(|Av|+ 1)
Output RC circuit:
1 
1  Rd 

fc  ;   tan
2 Rd C out  XC 
 out 
Rd  R D R L  | Av | 1 
where Cout = Cds + Cout(Miller) + Cwo C out ( Miller)  C gd  
 | Av | 
 Example

A self-biased n-channel JFET Amplifier with

C1(input)=0.01uF
C2(bypass)=2uF
C3(output)=0.5uF

VDD=20V IDSS=8mA
Rsig=10kΩ VGS(off)=-4V
RG=1M Ω
RD=4.7k Ω Cgd=2pF
RS=1k Ω Cgs=4pF
RL=2.2k Ω Cds=0.5pF
Cwi=5pF
Cwo=6pF
 Multistage Amplifiers

For an amplifier formed by cascading several stages, the

overall bandwidth is: BWtot = f’cu - f’cl

If all the stages have the same fcl and fcu, then:
f cl
f 'cl  and f 'cu  f cu 2 1 / n  1
21 / n  1
If each stage has a different fcl and a different fcu, then f’cl
is determined by the stage with the highest fcl , and f’cu is
determined by the stage with the lowest fcu.